The Sharks will look to snap a seven-game losing streak when they tackle London Irish at Salford City Stadium on Friday night with Redpath in a new head coach role having been removed as the club's director of rugby earlier this week.

Redpath paid for his side's disastrous start to the season with chief executive Steve Diamond opting to act in the wake of their latest reverse at the hands of Worcester last weekend. Initial reports suggested that Redpath had been sacked but the Sharks were quick to insist he had not been dismissed with the former Scotland international later confirmed in the post of head coach with Diamond taking charge of the side for the remainder of the season.

Redpath has long used McGeechan as a mentor and the British & Irish Lions legend has been on hand in recent weeks as the pressure has grown on the Premiership strugglers. And despite a woeful run of results, McGeechan insists Redpath's credentials are not in doubt.

"We speak on a regular basis and he is a good coach, a very good individual and has good character," McGeechan told ESPNscrum. "We've talked things through and I have just tried to use my experience and support him. And when you talk things through it sometimes makes the decisions you have to make easier or clearer."

McGeechan, who boasts an unrivalled coaching CV, is at the heart of the new organisation that he hopes will prove to be an invaluable support mechanism. "We felt there was a gap there," he explained. "Coaches did not have anywhere to share ideas or seek support which is sometimes quite important. In some cases it is just a matter of young coaches being backed by more experienced coaches because sometimes it can be a very lonely place.

One of the association's six directors, McGeechan also highlighted the tendency to point the finger at the coach when a side was struggling when the reasons for poor results may be more widespread. "The coach is always the easiest one to move on or question when often you have to look at the whole structure to see what support there is in the club," he said.

"It is important that coaches feel that they can pick up a telephone or meet to talk things through and just get good advice on what decisions need to be made. Sharing knowledge and having the opportunity to take ideas and use some, change some, and have a forum and support structure that coaches could buy into and relate to is very important."

Sir Ian McGeechan is the ambassador for FirstCape wine which has launched www.lionswineclub.com in association with The British & Irish Lions. For more information about FirstCape wine visit www.firstcape.com